A New Zealand coroner has found the sinking of a South Korean fishing trawler in the Southern Ocean three years ago was due mainly to mismanagement by the ship's master.

The O Yang 70 sank in August 2010 about 400 nautical miles east of New Zealand's South Island.

The master and five other sailors were killed, but only three bodies were found and were subject to the coronial inquiry.

Coroner Richard McElrea has found that the three Indonesian sailors drowned after a catastrophic chain of events, which began when the master attempted to haul a 120-tonne bag of fish on to the trawl deck of a ship with marginal stability.

He says there was a poor safety culture onboard.

The master had failed to ensure that the crew understood emergency procedures, and they had not had any abandon-ship training.

The coroner noted that legislation before the New Zealand parliament would help agencies to enforce safety rules, by requiring foreign ships to reflag as New Zealand vessels before being allowed to fish in the country's economic exclusion zone.

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